''Neoarctus primigenius'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
tardigrade
Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ...
. It is the only species in the genus ''Neoarctus'', which is the only genus in the family Neoarctidae.
The genus and species were first described and named by
Grimaldi de Zio,
D'Addabbo Gallo and
Morone De Lucia in 1992. The authors first placed the genus in the family
Stygarctidae
The Stygarctidae are a family of tardigrades. The family was first described by Schulz in 1951. The genus '' Neoarctus'' was first placed in the family Stygarctidae, but it was moved to a separate family, Neoarctidae
''Neoarctus primigenius'' ...
,
but it was moved to a separate family in 1998.
[Bello & Grimaldi de Zio (1998), ''Phylogeny of the genera of the Stygarctidae and related families (Tardigrada: Heterotardigrada).'' Zoologischer Anzeiger, vol. 237, p. 171-183.]
Description
The female holotype is 99 μm long and 36 μm wide.
Distribution
The species has been found at 38 metres depth on the east coast of the island of
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
, in the Gulf of
Orosei
Orosei ( sc, Orosèi) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italy, Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari and about east of Nuoro.
Orosei borders the following municipalities: Dorgali, Galtellì, ...
which is part of the
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...
.
References
Further reading
Arthrotardigrada
Fauna of Sardinia
Endemic fauna of Italy
Animals described in 1992
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